


Better Late Than Never

by padfootagain



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 05:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16968351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootagain/pseuds/padfootagain
Summary: Peter is late for Christmas Eve, and you will get your revenge!





	Better Late Than Never

**Author's Note:**

> Just fluff! Written for an event on tumblr with the prompts :  
> 6\. "IT'S FUCKING FREEZING!"  
> 24\. "It's snowing!"  
> I hope you all like it, tell me what you think of it :) It's my first piece with Peter Parker, so tell me if I did good or not :)

It was Christmas Eve. It was Christmas Eve and Peter was very late. Like… desperately late. Although, it wasn't his fault if these morons had decided to try to rob a bank while he was on his way to your house, right?

Aunt May was already there, probably helping your parents cooking. Your two families had been friends before you and Peter were even born.

As he jumped from one rooftop to another, struggling to catch his breath, he took another look at his watch.

The time he read made him run even faster despite his tired limbs.

"No, no, no, no, no…"

His web did wonders in helping him with the next jump, but he was near to panic now anyway. And this state of his had nothing to do with the height of the buildings he jumped on and off…

He was terrified of two things: his aunt's wrath, and your wrath.

He had promised you that he wouldn't play the hero today and tomorrow. You were to have his full attention for the holiday.

But what was he supposed to do seeing this bank being robbed? Turn away and act as if he hadn't seen anything? How could he? He was Spide-rMan after all. He wanted to help. He had always wanted to help, and now that he had these powers of his, he had to help as a duty.

You would understand. He knew you would understand. Of course, you would understand…

Again, he checked his watch, just as he entered the right street.

He was more than an hour late…

"I'm dead," he moaned, starting to panic. "I'm _so_ dead!"

He heaved a sigh, hiding behind the wall of a nearby house to take his mask off and hide his suit under casual clothes once more.

"I'm so, so, SO dead!" he went on, gesturing with his arms in despair while pulling on the zipper of his jacket. "They're both going to kill me… I'm so dead… I'm SO dead!"

He kept on talking about the doom he was about to face while he approached your house, his feet making the frozen snow crack loudly as he walked. He was not ready to face you and his aunt in the least, but he didn't seem to have a choice.

He took a deep breath before knocking on the front door, trying to calm himself down.

"Right, it's okay. You've got this…"

But when the door was flung open to reveal his aunt, her cheeks reddened by anger, Peter was frozen on the spot.

"Hey…" he gave her a sheepish smile, but that didn't ease the hurricane that was soon upon him.

"More than an hour! Peter! And you didn't call me, nor return _any_ of my calls!" Aunt May admonished. "I was worried to death!"

"I'm sorry, Aunt May. I was…"

He fell silent as he realized that he hadn't thought about an alibi yet…

An idea… and idea… quickly… quickly… QUICKLY!

"…with Ned," he went on in a hurry, saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"With Ned? I thought he was out of town for the holidays," Aunt May replied suspiciously.

"I was with him… on the phone," Peter replied, mentally slapping himself for not finding any better excuse, but it seemed that his brain was a bit frozen.

He had no problem focusing under pressure when he was fighting criminals. But facing his aunt's reprobative glare was another story entirely.

"It was very important. It was about… our… project…"

"Project?"

"Lego project. Star Wars Lego project. You know? I told you about it."

She suspiciously narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't add a word.

"Well, get inside, before you catch a cold."

She heaved a sigh, and relaxed.

"Next time, call me. You're making me worry!"

"I'm sorry, Aunt May. I didn't mean to. I just didn't see what time it was."

"Come here," she merely replied, opening her arms for him to hug her.

And he did with a smile on his face, welcoming the bone-crushing hug. Only then did he notice the decorations that were set in the hall. It smelled of turkey and sugar, Carols were playing, and he recognized Sinatra's voice in an instant. And all his worries vanished. It was Christmas Eve after all. He was with his family. It was warm and welcoming in your house, Aunt May smelled like hot chocolate and didn't seem to be willing to release him from her tight hug, he felt like home…

…And three thieves were arrested and never got into this bank. All was fine in Peter's life now.

Eventually, May released him from her tight embrace, and pushed him towards the living room, where your family was gathered.

"Ah, Peter! We were waiting for you!" your father welcomed the young man. "I think Y/N wanted to talk to you first though. She's in her bedroom, you should go upstairs. Tell her that we'll soon start eating too. You have about a half-an-hour and then everything will be ready for the best Christmas dinner you've ever eaten!"

Peter thanked your father and waved at the rest of your family before hurrying towards the staircase behind him. He climbed in a rush, impatient to see you and unwilling to lose any more time. He knew you were going to be more pissed by every second that ticked by.

He raised his hand to knock on your door, but he found it partially open, enough for him to peer inside without being noticed.

He leaned against the doorframe, watching you from afar for a moment. He studied the way the light of the lamp by your bed got caught in your hair. He admired how your silhouette contrasted with the pale light coming from outside. He let his eyes travel up and down your frame as you remained standing by the window, motionless.

You were looking at the quiet world outside. The clouds above you matched the colour of the ground still covered by a thick layer of snow from the prior night.

You looked beautiful, standing there…

But Peter shook himself out of his thoughts, and cleared his throat.

"Hey, there," he spoke softly.

"Oh, so you're not dead then?"

He could hear the tease in your voice. A zest of annoyance as well. But you didn't sound angry though. He had expected you to be mad, but you sounded more annoyed and a little saddened than anything else. So he walked into your room, closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, something came up," he said softly, sheepishly burying his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looking at you cautiously.

"What was it this time? A cat stuck in a tree?"

"A bank."

"A cat stuck in a bank?"

He couldn’t refrain a chuckle as he rolled his eyes.

"No, three men were about to rob a bank," he corrected you.

"Did you stop them?"

"Yeah…" he nervously rubbed the back of his head, moving his weight from one foot to the other. "I know that I said that we would have these two days just for the two of us… but… I just passed by, and… What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just let them rob a bank!"

You remained silent, so he broke the silence that surrounded the two of you now.

"Y/N? I'm sorry, babe. Don't be mad at me, please. It's Christmas! And I want to have a nice time with you. Don't be mad, babe."

You opened your window, and behind you, Peter frowned hard as the freezing wind was engulfed in your room, making both of you shiver as it contrasted with the warm atmosphere that had embraced you a mere second before.

"Babe?" he called, coming closer to you.

He saw you moving by the window, but didn't understand what you were up to, until it was too late for him…

You had waited until he was closer to you, and he was absolutely not expecting that move from you. So despite his sharp senses, he couldn't avoid the snow ball you threw right at his face.

He backed away out of reflex, and took a few sharp gasps, the cold stinging his whole face.

" _IT'S FUCKING FREEZING!_ " he cried.

You exploded with laughter while Peter was still struggling to calm down, cursing and gasping several times more, before he started to laugh.

"You'll pay for that," he warned you.

"Take it as my punishment for you making me wait on Christmas Eve," you replied.

"Are you angry?" he asked again, drying his face on his sleeve.

But you shook your head with a large smile.

"How could I? My boyfriend is late for dinner because he's saving the world… that's a rather good excuse."

"Not the world, just a bank," he laughed, coming close enough to wrap his arms around you, and you locked your fingers in his hair too.

"To some people, this bank is their world," you replied. "Don't play the modest one with me, Spider-Man…"

"Shush, someone could hear!" he protested, but he wasn't very convincing, as he was laughing too.

"Are you wearing your suit under your clothes?"

He nodded, opening the first buttons of his shirt for you to get a glimpse of his red and blue suit. You traced the dark lines of his suit with your fingertips, and he couldn't help how his heart quickened under your soft touch.

"Are you going to catch bad guys again tonight?" you asked him in a soft voice, and judging by your tone, he knew that you wanted him to stay with you.

He shook his head.

"I promised I'd be with you tonight and tomorrow. And I will."

You grinned up at him, clearly satisfied by his answer.

You frowned questioningly at him when he started to touch his own cheeks in a weird way.

"I can't feel my face," he complained, and you both laughed.

"Aww… poor Peter…"

"Stop laughing at me! It's your fault!"

"It is my fault," you admitted, looking up at him with eyes full of mischief. "Let me get your face warmer, then."

Your hands replaced his on his cold cheeks, and you leaned to press his lips to his, feeling him grinning in your kiss.

When you eventually broke away again, he buried his face in the crook of your neck, taking a deep breath to memorize your scent and carve it in his lungs.

You stayed like this for a while, wrapped in a comfortable silence, holding on each other tightly, merely enjoying the presence of the other by your side. You could feel his heart beating against yours, and he could hear the air entering and leaving your chest.

A grin formed on your lips as you took a look outside again.

"Peter, look… _It's snowing!_ "

You both exchanged a happy smile and watched the snowflakes falling towards your garden, not for a second breaking your embrace.

And Peter was so happy to be there with you, to be able to hold you like he did then. He felt so lucky. And you felt the same. Yes, he had been a little late, but you were not mad at him at all. You were proud of him for what he did every day, helping strangers. You were just worried that something could happen to him one day. But for now, he was safe, holding you against him, trapped in your arms…

He had arrived a little late for Christmas Eve, but better late than never…


End file.
